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Bobby Hurley Lets His Guard Down

On the cusp of his first season as head coach of the men’s basketball team, the former Duke star talks about his journey up to now

Hurley takes time out of his busy schedule to play a pick-up game with son Bobby, 10.

By David J. Hill

The life of Bobby
Hurley reads like a Hollywood screenplay in the making. The son
of legendary high school coach Bobby Hurley Sr., he excelled as a
player in high school, led Duke to two national championships and
joined the Sacramento Kings as a first-round draft pick. Then, a
few months into his rookie year, his car was sideswiped by a truck
and his life turned inside out. There was rehab, then protracted
injuries, pain and disillusionment as he struggled through four
more seasons, finally stepping away from basketball
altogether.

Thirteen years later, or, if you will, Act II: His younger
brother, Dan, becomes a head coach at Wagner College and invites
Bobby, now 42, to be his assistant. Together, the brothers engineer
Wagner’s best season ever. After two years, they move on to
Rhode Island to do the same, when fate intervenes again. Danny
White calls, offering Bobby the job of head coach at UB. His
mandate: Lead the Bulls to their
first-ever NCAA tournament.

“You know, I still remember my first camp. It was the night before and I had my whole outfit on, including my socks and my sneakers tied, and that’s how I went to sleep. That’s how excited I was about basketball.”

Bobby Hurley, UB men's basketball head coach

What was it like being the coach’s son?

It was tough. Almost every guy that played for my dad would say
it’s hard when you’re going through his program, but
for me it was magnified even more. He was harder on me than any
other guy on the team.

Did that affect your relationship growing up?
It was a struggle for me as a young person. It was hard to make the
separation between father and coach. When he would yell at me, I
would take things real personal. There were times that I
wasn’t at my best and my dad would say, “You’re
outta practice,” and I’d get bus money and head home
and then I’d go into hiding in the basement.

Now you have a 10-year-old son, Bobby. Does he have the
basketball gene?
He likes basketball a lot. I would never force-feed it to him
though. It’s his decision. If he shows me that’s the
direction he wants to go in, then I’ll help him with it. But
I know my path was really hard. I just want him to have a great
experience in life, whatever it is for him that he loves.

Your path was unusually hard, particularly having a car accident
derail your career when you were 22 years old.
It was a huge setback. Everything had been like a fairy tale: a
high school state championship, two NCAA championships, first-round
draft pick in the NBA. I didn’t have a ton of adversity.
After the accident, I had to learn to maximize whatever I could get
out of the talent I had left. And I went through a number of years
where I was the 11th man, 10th man on the team, where my whole life
I’d had a leading role. I had to learn to have some failure
and still be a good teammate and practice hard.

You moved back home to New Jersey to recover after the accident,
which must have been tough. But that’s when you met your
wife, right?
Yes. My brother Dan was going to Seton Hall at the time. I would
drive up to see him a couple times a week, and that’s how I
met Leslie, who was a student there too. It’s funny how
things turn out. If I hadn’t had that accident, I might have
still been out in California playing. But it gave me my family. As
bad as it was for my basketball career and as painful as it was to
go through, something good came out of it.

You took a fairly long break from basketball after retiring in
2000. How did you decide to come back as a coach?
I always knew that was the direction I should go with my
post-playing career. But I felt burned out. I was 29 years old and
dealing with not living up to my own personal expectations, with
having injuries … I had to just get away from the game. So I
took a breather. Then I got into scouting in 2004, and that began
generating my interest again. But I wasn’t working with
people. I wasn’t sharing my experiences in basketball and
what I learned.

It all came together when my brother was presented the
opportunity to be head coach and I could go work with him. He was
someone I believed in, and it was great for me to get involved at
the college level. That’s where I had my best experiences in
basketball.

How do you look back now on your playing career?
You know, I still remember my first camp. It was the night before
and I had my whole outfit on, including my socks and my sneakers
tied, and that’s how I went to sleep. That’s how
excited I was about basketball. I loved it. I lived the dream to be
able to take it so far.

Now you’re going to be a head coach for the first time. Do
you feel ready for this chapter of your life?
I think if my only experience was as a college athlete at Duke, it
would be unrealistic to think I could have the perspective to do
this job at the highest level. But I started at Wagner, which
didn’t have great resources, so I really had a chance to work
in all areas of running a program. I booked travel and set up team
meals. There were days I was bringing balls out. You take a lot
from those experiences. Also, my brother’s a hell of a coach.
To see how he ran his program for three years really prepared me
for this.

How is Buffalo treating you so far?
I’m 10 minutes from campus, which is a blessing. The pace of
life is good for me here. The people are very friendly. I think
it’s a great place to raise kids. And you can see the passion
for sports. It’s a part of the community, how much people
love the Bills and stay behind the Bills. We see it on Sunday
morning at the supermarket—all the Bills jerseys. I hope that
we can build something here that people will get behind like
that.